Severus' Second Chance
by Aryissa
Summary: Severus finds a young muggle child in need of help. Despite his pain, he reaaches out to her. As she grows older, she ends up being the solace he needs in a world of pain. TRIGGERS: Angst, Infant trauma, Abuse,
1. Chapter 1

Severus closed his eyes and slumped against the wall of the Shrieking Shack. He could not die. He knew if he died Voldemort would be undefeatable. Snape had fought for too long to protect Lily's son and he could not let the boy die for nothing. He has her eyes, he thought to himself

. ~ * ~ * 21 Years Earlier

Seventeen year old Severus Snape walked out to the tree where he and his former closest friend Lily Evans used to meet. He went there alone now. As he got closer, he stopped. He heard a girl crying. For a moment, he thought it must be Lily, and he hurried around the corner. To his dismay, it was a little girl curled up against the tree. Bitterness made him angry and for a moment, he thought to hurt the child. When he got closer, however, he saw she already was hurt. A large black bruise spread across one side of her face and another one on her neck. The girl held her wrist as though it were broken. Severus immediately felt pity for the child and slowly walked over to her.

"Where is your mother?" he asked.

She jumped, having not heard him come close to her. "I-I- I don't know. She left when I was a baby. M-m-my father said she was no good. He says I'm just like her," she sobbed.

"Did he, your father, hurt you?" She nodded and said she was scared to go home. Her daddy had never hurt her this badly before. Severus didn't know what to do. He was supposed to be a mean, uncaring Death Eater, not some fool feeling sorry for a useless little muggle girl. He knelt down to look at her wrist and gasped. Her eyes were green, as green as Lily's eyes. He'd never seen pain like that in any child's eyes but his own when he looked into a mirror.

"Please help me, Sir," she whispered, looking with her own green eyes into his dark ones.

He whispered the spell to heal her wrist and told her to wait for him where she was. She said that she would, even if it got dark. He smiled at her innocence and ran home to get something for the bruises on her face and neck. His own mother and father were fighting when he got home, so he was delayed in getting back to her. After he told her what to do with the potion, and not to tell anyone about it, hewalked her home. Right before she walked in her door, she looked back at him and smiled. She knew she'd always be alright if he would always be her friend.


	2. Chapter 2

1981\. Halloween night. Severus Snape leaned against the very same tree where he and Lily had so often played together. He remembered making the leaves fly beautifully away. He remembered laughing. He remembered thinking that maybe someday Lily might love him. He cried. He remembered calling her a mudblood in front of that fool James. If she had married Severus, maybe she would still be alive.

"Her son lives." Dumbledore had told him. FOOL! She should live. He remembered the words of that dreadful prophecy that had sealed his seeming loyalty to Voldemort, and in turn his true loyalty to Dumbledore. It had sealed Lily's fate. Poor, beautiful Lily was dead now and it was his fault. He cried.

Severus did not know how long he had been leaning against the tree crying. The sun was glaring high overhead when he felt a little hand wipe a tear off his face. He immediately slapped the hand away.

"Why are you crying? Did something bad happen?" asked the little girl who's wrist he had heeled just a few years before. "You've been sitting there a long time, Sir."  
She was older now, probably ten or eleven. The look in her eyes said she knew more about the world than any little girl should know. One tear slid down her face, though whether it was from his slap or sympathy, Severus wasn't sure.

"Why are you here?" He croaked. His voice was raw from crying out in pain.

She looked plaintively at him and tilted her head sideways. "I always come here. When I was eight, a nice man helped me and sometimes I wait for him to come back. Well, you're back and now you need help."

Coldly, Severus looked her in the eyes. This was just a muggle girl who had caught him in a moment of weakness. Never again would he be weak. "Unless you can bring the dead to life, you're useless to me. You're just a stupid little muggle. Go home to your father."

To his amazement, she laughed. "What's a muggle? If you're trying to hurt my feelings, you can't. At least, I don't think you can. My daddy says I'm useless all the time. And I can't go home to my daddy. He just hurts me so I stay away as much as possible. He doesn't miss me. He gave me permission to run away. I wish I had magic like you. Do you think I do?"

"How old are you?"

"I just turned eleven June fifteenth!"  
Severus grabbed her hard enough to leave a bruise on her arms and shook her. "Look at me, you little fool," He sneered, "You're not magical. You don't want to be, either. You laugh while Lily Evans is dead. Your father hates you for a reason. Go away and leave me alone. This was Lily's tree, not yours. I'll never help you again and I never want to see you again." At that, he shoved her to the ground and strode away, tears still pouring down his face. He would never be kind to anyone again. He would never love again. What he didn't know, was that the little girl had loved him since she met him. Katherine Lane would not easily give up.

"What's your name?" She yelled at his retreating back.

He stopped long enough to tell her. "Severus Snape."

"Someday," she promised herself, "I'm going to make Severus laugh."

A few days later, Katherine was surprised to see Severus walking toward her house. He looked nervous, apprehensive. She checked to make sure her father was asleep in the den before running out the door. She did not try to hide her happiness at seeing him. To his dismay, she hugged him.

"Knew you didn't hate me", she blurted with all the honest excitement an eleven year old could muster. He pushed her almost gently off of him and looked down at her. He wasn't sure why he was about to do this. "I need to talk to your father." Her eyes widened with fear. "Please don't make me wake him up. He's really awful if I wake him up," she pleaded.

He smiled. "I need to talk to your father."

A combination of love and loyalty for, and faith in, the man looking down at her made the girl  
walk in the house. "You'd better wait here," she said. She was shaking. Katherine avoided her father at all costs; she often skipped meals to stay away from him. She thought Severus could never understand the fear she had of the man who often threw her, beat her, and cussed her out regularly. She felt as though she was nothing when she stood next to him. She stopped inside the door and took a breath.  
Gingerly, she touched her father's shoulder. She didn't have to say a word.  
He opened one eye and looked her. Severus heard Katherine cry out when he father slammed her into the wall, his hand around her throat.  
"WHY DID YOU WAKE ME UP, TRASH?" he roared.

"T-t-there's s-s-s-someone who w-wants to t-t-talk to you, D-Daddy."  
As she spoke, Severus pushed the door to the house open. His wand was out and he looked  
ready to kill. Still brewing anger at Lily's death had come to the surface.  
"Take your hands off your daughter," he warned slowly.

After throwing her roughly down, Katherine's father advanced on Severus. "And what," he  
snickered, "are you and your stick going to do if I don't?"  
Severus muttered something under his breath that neither Katherine nor her father could hear;  
whatever it was caused her father to scream. He screamed as though he was being torn limb from limb  
and fell to the ground writhing and pleading with Severus to stop. A few neighbors heard the screams,  
but ignored them. They felt the man was getting his just dues for treating his daughter so cruelly. On  
and on the screams went. With another flick of his wand, Severus shut the man's mouth so he could no longer  
scream. In the silence he warned Katherine's father to never hurt her again.  
"I am leaving for a few months. I will return around Christmas time and if, when I return, your  
daughter has a single bruise, a single scratch, or a single story that you have hurt her in any way, the  
pain you feel now will feel like butterflies tickling your palm. Clearly, you are not worth the breath you  
breathe and you will not harm her again. Understood?"

Katherine's father nodded. Severus turned to her.  
"If you need anything, an owl will be at my house every morning at nine. Write a note and give it  
to the owl. It will find me."

Katherine was crying with gratitude. "Thank you so much, Sir."  
At that, and another wave of his  
wand, Severus was gone. Katherine ran outside after him, but he had disappeared. When she walked  
back inside, her father, still laying on the floor asked her if ignoring her was going to get him tortured  
again.  
Grinning, she answered that it would be quite lovely if he ignored her.

 **A/N I can just hear Severus saying "Butterflies. Tick-ling. Your. Palms" in that lovely disdainful voice we all know and love.**


	3. Chapter 3

Severus and Katherine both felt Christmas came agonizingly slow.

For Severus, the pain of Lily's death was still raw. It was as though someone occasionally stuck a salt dipped finger in the wound and twisted it. Though it was healing, it was a slow and painful process. He had lost her once, when he was sixteen, but she had still been alive then. Now, she was just gone.  
For Katherine, it went slowly because she wanted it to come quickly. Her life was easier than it had ever been. Her father didn't speak to her or lay a hand on her and she liked it just fine. She started cooking their meals and they ate them silently together. Three weeks after he had been gone, Katherine gave a note to the owl:

 _Severus, I'm doing fine. Thank you for helping me. Daddy doesn't say anything to me but we're eating together so now I get to eat three times a day. I hope you smile more now. Your forever friend, Kat m Lane P.s. Do you think I could have a pet owl?_

Severus wrote her back letting her know he had received the owl and was glad she was doing well. He had smiled when he read her letter. It had been a brief, half smile, but the first he'd had since Lily's death. What Katherine didn't know was that Severus carried the letter with him. Whenever he got angry, or sad, he pulled it out and read it. A month and a half later, when he arrived back at Spinner's end Christmas morning, the note was faded and tear-stained.

Katherine was waiting for him by the tree. It was a bit of a shock to him how much she had grown. He hadn't realized before how thin she had been. Now she was filled out and had a flush in her cheeks. She looked happy and healthy. There was still loneliness in her eyes, but he could not find any fear. Almost shyly, she handed him a wrapped gift.

"It took me a long time to do. I did it from memory. The frame was my mum's," she mumbled, looking down. Slowly, he tore the paper off the package. It was a drawing of him leaning against the tree.

"This is the day I yelled at you?" he asked. She nodded, looking hopeful that he would like it.

Severus was speechless. It was a pencil drawing with almost perfect details. His hands were wrapped around his knees which were pulled into his chest. His face looked out from the picture and the look of agony was well readable. Most of the leaves had blown off the tree and a few were moving in the wind. The grass was blowing in the wind as was his hair. One strand was actually blown across his eye. He studied it for several minutes until Katherine couldn't' take it anymore.

"Well?" She demanded.

"It's, I don't really know what to say," he answered. "It's beautiful. I had no idea you were so talented."

Katherine grinned with relief, "I worked really hard on it. I kept messing up the hair, actually. I was a bit afraid you'd be mad, but I sat next to you for a couple hours that day but you didn't notice me until I touched you. Then you got upset."

A wave of tenderness overcame Severus. He had not known she had sat next to him that long on Halloween. This girl was a friend. He was a lonely 21 year old man whose only friend was an eleven year old girl that had the heart of a thirty year old. He walked around to the other side of the tree where he had set down his gift for her. "Merry Christmas," he said.

She jumped with excitement. It was a baby pet owl! "I think it's a male. You said you wanted one and I thought you'd like to raise a baby instead of getting an adult one. I hope you like it.

"Are you kidding? I love him! What should I name him?"

"That is entirely up to you," he answered slowly. "Just not Severus."

Katherine looked bummed. "How'd you know?"

He grinned. "I can't stay long; I just wanted to give you your present and see if you father needed a reminder not to hurt you."

She shrugged. "I don't think he does, but I don't think it would hurt to see you." "Come on, then. I'll walk you home."

"Happy Christmas, Daddy! Severus is here to say hello," Katherine called into the house.

"Who?" Her father asked irritably. "Oh, oh. It's you. I haven't, I haven't touched her, I swear!"

Severus chuckled. It sounded odd to himself, he hadn't laughed in so long. "I'm glad to see you  
remember me. I know you've been what she considers nice. You remind me of my own father. He was a lousy, temperamental, abusive idiot as well. "  
"How dare you-" her father started, then, looking at Severus as though he were inspecting a  
new package, he asked, "You're that Snape boy, aren't you? That lives in the shabby house by the river?  
What was your mother's name?"  
"Yes. I live in the shabby house by the river," Severus sneered, "and her name was Eileen Prince  
before she married my father, Tobias. Now, you'll continue to take care of Kat as she pleases. One slip up, and I'll be on your doorstep." He brandished his wand at this last and walked out. He didn't know how Katherine was so kind when her father was so despicable.  
Katherine followed him outside. "When will Prince be old enough to send a letter to you? And  
how long are you going to be gone this time? And-"

"Prince?"

She grinned. "My owl. His name is Prince. Is that okay? And how long will you be gone?"

Severus smiled for what seemed like the hundredth time since Halloween. It was getting easier.  
"I don't care what you name the owl. He'll let you know when he's old enough. And I"ll be gone-"

Suddenly, he stopped. Alarmed, he cried, "Get in your house!" and disappeared. Bewildered,  
Katherine ran inside. There she peaked out the window. A black haired woman had appeared. She  
looked crazy and Katherine was scared. She locked the door and ran into her room.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Bellatrix's appearance in the last chapter will be clarified later on.**

June 5, 1982. It was Katherine's twelfth birthday. She lay on her bed waiting for Prince to return; she had sent him to Severus every week since he had first flown out to hunt. She had never gotten a reply. She was scared to death that the only person who had ever cared about her was gone forever. She had cried herself to sleep for months and her father was starting to be abusive again. He had thrown a dinner plate at her and she had a bruise from him slamming her into a wall. She had started hiding in her bedroom again and was hungry. In the past two months, she had lost all the weight she had gained and her cheeks were hollowed out.

Suddenly, Prince came souring in the room. Katherine screamed and jumped so hard she fell off her bed. "Prince, you have something!" she cried. Quickly, she tore the packaging open and started to cry. It was part relief that Severus was alive and part heart break from what he wrote.

 _Kat, I'm sorry you haven't heard from me. I have been unable to write to you and I will not see you at the end of this month. I will probably never see you again. There are dangerous things happening in my world and the role I play is the most dangerous one. I cannot risk you being hurt. When Bellatrix showed up on Christmas… if she had seen you, it would have been terrible. I could not bear to see you hurt. I'm sorry to give you such news on your birthday (June 5th, I believe?) but I wanted to give you something. I got you some wizarding sweets. I hope you enjoy them. Also, I got you a magical quill for your drawings. It writes like a pencil, but you never have to sharpen it. A muggle eraser will work on it. I hope you enjoy. Please be careful. I won't say Happy Birthday, I know you are sad. Give you father my regards._

 _Yours always,_

 _Severus_

Katherine read the letter until her eyes blurred and then she threw it at the wall. What did he mean, he'd never see her again? As soon as she threw it she grabbed, un-crumpled, and read it again. She picked up the bag of sweets he got her and popped one her mouth. It was unlike anything she had ever had. Looking at the wrapper, she saw it was called a Fizzing Whizbee. She started floating in the air and screamed. Once she realized what was supposed to happen, she laughed. She tried one of every kind of sweet Severus had gotten her. A Chocolate Frog was bouncing around her room while she read its card. The quill was amazing. She had already started to draw a picture of Prince and it was nice not to have to sharpen the quill. She could finish the picture in her mind without having to stop. For several hours, Katherine drew and ate sweets. Finally finishing the picture of Prince, she stretched and walked into the kitchen where her father was drinking a beer.

"Severus wrote me."

Her father started at her mention of his name, "I thought he wasn't talking to you."

"No, no, he is. He's just been busy. Says he'll come see me in a few days," she lied.

"Go on and get your dinner and back in your room then. I trust he won't find out about the couple incidents?"

"I trust he will," She sneered. She suddenly lost her temper. "I'm not just going to let you beat me around and throw stuff at me! You're supposed to love me and take care of me and here I am twelve years old today and you don't even know it. I'm making my own dinner and hiding in my room terrified of you. I'll tell him whatever I want and you can't stop me!" Katherine stormed out of the room. She knew she shouldn't have yelled at her father, but between him and Severus' letter, she just couldn't hold it in.

Over the next several months, Katherine spent her time doing homework and drawing. She sent a note once a month to Severus. It always said she was doing well and she missed him. She did not tell him her father had broken two of her ribs or that he had shoved her into a window, causing her to need sixteen stitches on her arm and twelve on her back. She did not tell him that she cried every night or that she had made no new friends. Each month Prince returned empty clawed. Once, he clutched a small bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans with a small note that simply said "S.S.". She supposed it was Severus' way of saying he had gotten her letters but it was almost as bad as receiving nothing.

Prince woke Katherine Christmas morning, along with three other owls. Katherine was startled  
to see so many birds at her window. She quickly let them in. The three dropped their packages and shot  
out the window. Prince sat on her shoulder while she looked at her presents. The first was a quick note  
scrawled from Severus:

 _Kat,_  
 _Enjoy and Happy Christmas. I know it's been a year but I hope you've been_  
 _well. I get the feeling you're letters aren't quite honest. Sorry I've kept Prince_  
 _so long, I had him deliver a message for me and he got a bit ruffled. My_  
 _birthday is January 9, in case you were wondering. I'd like a drawing of you._  
 _Help is included._  
 _Yours always,_  
 _Severus_

Katherine laughed. He wanted a birthday present! She already had his Christmas present. She  
had found some of her mother's old things in the attic and one of them was an old sewing machine.  
After school one day she had bought some black material and made him a big, long cloak. His old one  
had seemed a bit worn last Christmas.  
The first package contained another box of sweets. There were twice as many for her birthday.  
There were some other foods too that she hadn't seen before. The second package was a book about  
magic. Inside he had scrawled that she wasn't really supposed to have this, but he thought she'd like it.  
He also wanted her to know more about his world. The last package must have been what he meant by  
"Help is included." It was a beautiful mirror. At the bottom, "For the most beautiful soul" was inscribed.  
When she looked in it, her reflection wasn't backwards. Also in that package was a new drawing pad.  
Katherine could tell it had been bought in what Severus would call a "muggle" shop. It was really fancy  
and couldn't have made her any happier.  
Katherine grabbed a piece of paper and her magic quill and wrote _:_

 _Severus,_  
 _I love everything! I was getting a bit hungry, too. But don't worry, I'm doing fine. Dad ignores me_  
 _mostly. That mirror is so neat. And I'm excited about the book. I won't tell a soul about it. I made you_  
 _a Christmas present and I'll get to work on your birthday one today. If you need Prince to do_  
 _anything for you, feel free. Just send him back in time to get your birthday present._  
 _Much love,_  
 _Kat M Lane_

With that, Katherine gave the letter and cloak to Prince and settled down to eat and start  
drawing. She decided this was the best Christmas she'd ever had.


End file.
